Canal+ launches D8 and D17 on October 7

The Canal+ Group will launch its two new free-to-air channels D8 and D17 on digital terrestrial television on Sunday, October 7 at 8.30 pm.

The broadcaster has acquired the two channels from the Bolloré group and decided to rename Direct 8 D8 and Direct Star D17. The numbers refer to the position of the channel line-up on the digital terrestrial network, as allocated by the media authority CSA.

D8 will be a general entertainment channel with Canal+ multiplying the programming budget for the channel. The CSA has made the development of 730 hours of original programming mandatory for the broadcaster, while also posing restrictions on the amount of US prime time series.Original Canal+ programming will also be part of D8, but there has to be a window of at least 18 months before any of this programming can be shown on D8.

D17 has a focus on music, but programming also includes TV series about paranormal and extra terrestrial activities, manga cartoons, and there will be a weekly ‘movie night’. The channel will also show some programming originally broadcast on Canal+